Why nobody tells you about the free parking placard for invisible disabilities

I spent 6 months struggling with my chronic pain just to walk from the parking lot into Target until a friend told me I could get a CA disabled placard without a wheelchair. Has anyone else here gotten one for a condition that isn't obvious to other people?

3 comments

3 Comments

oliver7195d ago

I was just reading about how some conditions like POTS or EDS make standing in lines feel impossible, and it's wild to me that the system is set up so you basically have to be in a wheelchair to get a placard. My neighbor has fibromyalgia and she had to fight with her doctor for months before he'd even consider signing the paperwork, like she was faking it or something. I heard there's a huge gap in awareness even among doctors about what qualifies as a disability for parking purposes, because they think if you can walk at all you don't need help. It's so frustrating because the whole point of the placard is to reduce the distance you have to walk, not to say you can't walk at all. Once I finally got mine for my chronic knee issues, I felt so guilty at first like I didn't deserve it, but then I realized I was literally limping for hours after grocery trips before. More people need to know this stuff exists even if they don't look sick.

derek_ramirez5d ago

That guilt thing is real. My own doctor actually brought it up to me before I even asked, which is the only reason I have mine for my POTS. @oliver719 you're totally right that doctors are often the biggest roadblock, they see someone young and assume you're fine. The state literally says the placard is for reducing distance walked, not for being unable to walk at all. I still get nervous using it sometimes when people stare, but then I remember the days I'd pass out from just walking a parking lot. More doctors need to actually read the rules instead of making their own up.

dakotacraig5d ago

I'm curious about the whole guilt thing you both mentioned, did either of you have a moment where you just decided you had to stop caring what people think? Because I see that guilt come up over and over in these conversations but nobody really talks about how to actually get past it. It seems like doctors gatekeep hard enough without us also gatekeeping ourselves.